2.3. How Speaking Is Marked
Meet the four things the examiner is scoring, all worth the same.
The short version
4 criteria, each worth the same.
Fluency and Coherence: keeping going, making sense.
Lexical Resource: the words you reach for.
Grammar and Pronunciation make up the other two.
Four criteria, equal weight
Speaking is marked on four criteria, each worth the same. The examiner gives a whole band from 0 to 9 on each one.
Where half bands come from
The four scores are averaged. That is why a Speaking band can be 6.5: scores of 7, 7, 6 and 6 average out to 6.5.
No score for each part
There is no separate mark for Part 1, 2 or 3. A weak Part 2 still sits inside the same four scores.
Keep going, and make each sentence follow from the last.
Your vocabulary: the right words for this question.
A mix of sentence forms, mostly controlled.
Be easy to understand. A first-language accent is fine if the listener can follow.
Quiz time2 questions
The criteria
Choose the number.
How many criteria is Speaking marked on?
Scores per part
Choose the true statement.
Do you get a score for each part?
Recap
Four criteria, each worth a quarter of your Speaking band.
There is no separate score for each part of the test.
A weakness in one criterion cannot be hidden by the others.
Next: why communicating clearly beats sounding perfect.